Page 66 of Heartless

“He’s not your boyfriend,” Reagan sneers. “Jesus Christ, Winnie, what the hell is wrong with you?!” It’s crazy to me that she’s here acting likeshe’sthe wronged party.

“She had these.” Virgil tosses the knife and taser to the floor, then steps away from them.

“Okay. Umm…” The cops glance at each other, and one tilts his head. The other holsters his gun and steps forward, handcuffs in his grip.

“Just calm down, okay?” he tells Reagan, holding a hand up as if to placate a wild animal. “We’ll get this all figured out.”

“And I’m guessing you have evidence that she kidnapped your girlfriend and told you to come here?” Trudeau rounds the corner, looking Reagan over. “That’s not necessary, Herner.” He waves off the officer, who looks unsure. “Does she really look like a threat here?”

“Uh, excuse me? Do you not see my face?” I gesture to my temple, but Trudeau barely looks interested. “The little girl we were babysitting will tell you that we aren’t lying. She was afraid of Reagan. That’s why I confronted her.” When Reagan is let go I take a step back warily.

“You expect me to believe this girl took all of you on with a taser and a knife? Especially you, Mr. Byers?” Trudeau turns his toad-like gaze on Cassian, who hitches a grin over his lips.

“Well, she didn’t win, or you wouldn’t be here.” He leans back against the wall and eyes Trudeau with dislike.

The detective doesn’t relent, but he does have his officers take Reagan outside before telling us to file out behind her. With Trudeau taking up the rear with Cassian, I strain to hear their muttered conversation. But the only thing I hear is Cass’s humorless chuckle, and something like a hissed threat from Trudeau.

“Just keep walking. They’re fine.” Virgil plants his hands on my shoulders when I start to hesitate, and shoves me out the door in a quick, forward march.

“Okay, okay.” Shooing his hands off my shoulders, I don’t miss the quick way he steps back. “You don’t like me,” I comment, and watch as he grimaces.

“I don’t really like most people. But I suppose if you stick around then I’ll have no choice but to grow somewhat attached. And judging byhim, you aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. I guess.” He doesn’t really sound thrilled by it. “Don’t take it personally.” I watch as he strides away, to the side of the driveway closest to the cop cars where Sophie is hugging astuffed elephant to her chest and twisting first one direction, then the other. Virgil murmurs something that brings a tiny smile to her face, and I can’t help letting out a breath of relief.

“She wanted to go in and get you.” Cass’s voice in my ear is soft and I glance up at him as Trudeau walks past us to go stand near Reagan. I can’t hear whatever he’s saying to her, and I’m pretty sure I don’t care.

“Sophie?” I tilt my head. “You sure?”

“Yeah. She was fully ready to launch a rescue mission and had procured a pair of kid’s scissors to cut you free. Virgil told her they might not work and he had something better.” I can hear the smile in his words, and I lean into him with a sigh.

“I’m sorry,” I say. “I feel like this is my fault. You know she did all of it, right?” Looking at Reagan I see that Trudeau is now the one holding her, and the other two officers are standing with Virgil and Sophie. Though as I watch, one moves toward the growing crowd standing on the sidewalk, throwing out the normal warnings about this being anactive crime scene.

Cass nods and reaches up to brush my hair back from my face. “I know, princess. She seems pretty offended that you’re mine. Shame.” He leans in close and brushes his lips lightly to mine in a sweet, chaste kiss. “We’re going to have to talk about this later, you know,” he adds shrewdly, eyes narrowing.

Bemused, I tip my head back to narrow my eyes at him. “Excuse me?”

“You went and got yourself tied up, hurt, and had someone confess their psychotic love to you. That’s my territory.” His tone is teasing, for the most part, with something dark and so veryhimlingering in the back of his words. God, I really should be more afraid of him.

“You can lecture me on what to look for in the future so I don’t get myself into this situation again. But I’m a visual learner. Also, chocolate helps me focus.” He gives a quick,affectionate roll of his blue eyes and grins at me as Virgil wanders back over.

“The kid’s surprisingly…aggressive. She has some pretty bold thoughts about Reagan and what she did.” He glances back at the little girl, who’s twisting again with her stuffed elephant as the officer next to her rambles on the phone.

But I guess I shouldn’t expect better. With a sigh I leave Virgil and Cassian to their quiet conversation, feeling suddenly tired and older than I am. “Hey,” I tell Sophie, dropping to sit in the grass beside her. “Weird night, huh?”

“Really weird.” She doesn’t quite stop her nervous fidgeting, but she does slow down and I can see her looking at me from the corner of her eyes. “Are you okay?”

“I’m all good. I heard you were ready to lead an armed militia to save me.”

Sophie is quiet for a few seconds. “What’s a militia?” she asks finally, mostly still and actually looking at me instead of pretending not to.

“You’re making me feel old.” I cross my legs under me, leaning forward, just as a flurry of movement catches my attention from near the police cars. Someone shrieks and the movement that catches my eye is Reagan as she lunges for the cop facing the crowd while Trudeau…

Watches.

His expression is thoughtful and closed off, and I realize that with his position behind the car, the crowd on the other side can’t see how he’s not really attempting to stop Reagan.

Did he let her go? The thought hits me just as his face falls, surprise and panic contorting his features. “No!” he barks, exploding into motion and fumbling for the gun he isn’t carrying.

For a moment I don’t understand his delayed reaction, at least until I turn back to where Reagan went. The officer is on theground and struggling to his knees, while the other one works to free his own gun. And Reagan, for her part, is holding the stolen gun in both hands, the muzzle dipping with each tremble of her hands but not deviating much from its target.

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